10-4 Magazine December 2021

Truck Show Report: By Daniel J. Linss about 200 more complimentary root beer floats from our booth. Thanks to Carl Carstens of Rockwood Products for bringing the keg of Sprecher root beer all the way from Wisconsin, and to he and Jacob Gunderson for helping us serve them up until the keg went dry. Parked directly in front of our booth was Chad Foss and his all-new “Silver Lining” Peterbilt. Built by Clint Moore, this super low rig, featuring an all-silver paint job and stripes in multiple shades of silver, was also featured on a new 10-4 Magazine shirt we debuted at this event. With a beautiful drawing of Chad’s truck and the tagline “Always Finding the Silver Lining” underneath, this shirt, along with our “Back Row” shirt (with the tagline “Hangin’ With the Cool Kids”), were both very popular. The amount of people walking around at this event was phenomenal! During the day on Friday, we walked around and took photos, did live remotes (streamed directly to Facebook and our YouTube channel), and enjoyed some of the planned activities, including the big rig burnouts. With several trucks and drivers doing burnouts, a new truck and driver was added to mix – Bryan “Bossman” Martin himself, the owner Just when you thought the Guilty By Association Truck Show (GBATS) in Joplin, MO was as good as it was ever going to be, they went ahead and made it even better! Held September 23-25, 2021, this huge Jamboree and Customer Appreciation event was like no other. Hosted by 4 State Trucks, with support from the Owner Operator Independent Driver Association, Joplin 44 Petro, and TBS Factoring Service, this was an “Exit 4” event unlike any other. And with the Joplin 44 Petro collaborating with the GBATS producers, there was added space for even more vendors, more trucks, and more entertainment. The last GBATS event was held in 2018, which celebrated the show’s 10th anniversary. At that point, the show moved to an every other year schedule because it had got so big and was so much work to produce. Unfortunately, due to Covid-19, the scheduled 2020 show did not happen. But instead of making everyone wait another two years, they went ahead and scheduled the event for 2021. Now, the show will be held every other year, but it will be on odd years instead of even years. The next one will be in 2023, assuming the world does not collapse between now and then! With some of our crew arriving early on Wednesday, September 22, our booth, which was situated directly in front of the 4 State store, was basically set up that day. And since we mentioned the front of the store, we might also mention that the folks at 4 State Trucks did an addition to the front of their store that is really nice. The new semi-circular entry area features windows all around and a large lit-up sign above the doors featuring the 4 State Trucks logo. After the rest of us arrived on Thursday, we all started running the moment our feet hit the ground in Joplin. The weather on Thursday, and for most of the entire event, was absolutely perfect, with temps in the mid-70s and clear blue skies. Coming fromCalifornia, where several wildfires were burning out of control for weeks, it was nice to breath in fresh air with no smoke. This year’s GBATS featured Diesel Dirt Drags, which kicked off on Thursday, with time trials at 3:00 PM and then the races at 7:30 PM. Between these two events was the annual VIP Participant Dinner, which fed hundreds of people, and included chicken, pulled pork, mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, and green beans. For dessert, 10-4 Magazine and Rockwood Products provided delicious root beer floats for all to enjoy. Friday saw a slight increase in the temperature, up to the lower 80s, and the wind picked up a bit. This wind helped keep everyone a bit more comfortable, but wreaked havoc on the magazines, posters, and centerfolds we were giving away in our booth. Thank goodness we had our “fancy” paperweights – custom engraved billet aluminum lug nut covers from Roll On Customs – to help hold everything down! Friday was a very busy day in the booth, and with leftover root beer and ice cream from the night before, we went ahead and gave away 20 10-4 Magazine / December 2021 EVEN BETTER!